One of the conjoined twin girls separated from her sister in a lengthy operation last week is apparently in a critical condition.
The 11-month-old twins underwent almost 13 hours of highly complicated surgery at Fudan University's Children's Hospital in Shanghai under the care of 70 doctors and nurses working in shifts.
While her sister Chen Jingni is breathing with the help of a respirator and in a stable condition, Hu Jingxuan's condition is reportedly unstable and she remains under emergency treatment in an intensive care unit.
The twin girls who are from the eastern province of Zhejiang, had shared a liver and a digestive tract before the surgery and had congenital heart disease.
Gui Yonghao, president of the Shanghai hospital says the twins' deformity was very rare, and this was the first separation surgery of its kind in the world.
Gui Yonghao says it will be a miracle if one child survives and a challenge to the limits of medicine for both to survive.
Despite the success of the surgery the twins still face potentially fatal challenges such as organ failure, infection, blood disorders and nutritional problems. Both have congenital heart conditions and will require more surgery.
In an attempt to guarantee the success of the operation, the hospital halted all elective procedures and placed its entire staff of experts on call.